Resource Booker

Resource Booker lets you create and manage online booking systems for a range of resources, either remotely (without having to access and publish via WebPlus) or directly from WebPlus.

You can also control when the resource can be booked (daily, weekly, or monthly), and if the booking is to be recurring.

Add a resource to the Smart Objects Library	Add your Resource Booking System to a web page
Create your Resource Booking System	The user's experience
Set up your Resource Booking System	Manage your resources
Create a new resource

In the screenshots below we've used a fictitious sports centre, called WellBeing, as an example. The centre offers online booking of tennis courts.

Add a resource to the Smart Objects Library

At the bottom of the My Smart Objects Library pane, click New...
In the Create Smart Object dialog, click Resource Booker.
Click OK.

From the dialog, You'll now be able to create your Resource Booker System, assigning a unique name and style.

Create your Resource Booking System

In the Style pane on the right:

Type a name for the resource.
Select a profile from the drop-down list. The resource can be grouped under a previously created named profile with other Smart objects. Profiles are useful if you're managing multiple websites, where smart objects can be grouped together under a profile per site.
Adjust the appearance of the title text, body text, and links (colour, font, and size). You can optionally use your site's colour scheme via WebPlus's File>Site Properties (Features tab).
Adjust the border colour and thickness around the object.

The Preview pane updates as you make your changes.

Optional: To prevent others from embedding your Resource Booking System into their websites, type your domain URL into the Filter Offsite text box.
Optional: Type the URL of your alternative style sheet if you want a different look and feel to your Resource Booker. You'll need to base this style sheet on the style elements that the Smart object uses by default. Use View Page Source in your web browser to see which styles are used by the Smart object.
Click Create. Your named Resource Booker is listed in the Smart Objects Library.

Use Edit in the Smart Objects dialog to change these settings any time.

Now you've created a basic Resource Booking System, you'll need to populate it with each resource instance (e.g., each tennis court).

Set up your Resource Booking System

Set up requires two key steps to be carried out. Firstly, to configure global settings, then to create each resource instance based on those settings.

To enable set up:

From the My Smart Objects Library pane, select your named Resource Booking System.
Click Manage at the bottom of the pane. An empty Resources window is displayed.

To configure global settings:

Click Settings.
From the dialog, check options or enter text in text boxes for the following:

Display Bookings to public	Check to show previously made bookings in a month-by-month calendar. Keep unchecked to just offer a calendar to book from.
Bookings require confirmation	Check to confirm booking by the administrator, rather than directly via the form. The administrator always receives such booking requests via email.
Send admin email notifications	Check to send a booking confirmation email to the administrator.
Send users email notifications	Check to send a booking confirmation email to the person booking.
Email required	Check to ensure that a user enters an email address during the booking process.
Phone required	Check to ensure that a user enters a contact phone number during the booking process.
Date format	Choose between US and international date formats.
Price Category (0-4)	Set pricing levels by entering a category name at each level; the name will show as a label in all created resources. If you leave a category field empty, that pricing level will not be included in created resources.
Currency	Adds the currency type before price fields. Enter GBP for £, USD for $, or EUR for €.
Tax	Sets a percentage tax rate applied to the total booking amount.
Tax name	Type the type of tax (e.g., V.A.T., Sales Tax).
Prices tax inclusive	Check to show charges with tax included in the amount.
Description	Add a description for the resource. Examples include a description of resource, a mission statement, payment and contact details.

Click Save Settings.

Once you've setup these global settings, you can create a resource for each facility you want to rent out.

To create each resource:

From the Manage dialog, click New.
Enter resource-specific details as described below.

Name	The unique name for the resource, e.g. Indoor1 for a specific indoor tennis court.
Capacity	The maximum number of people permitted to use the resource at any one time. For example, 4 for tennis doubles, or 350 for a one-off event.
Per <category name>	Enter a price for the pricing level category according to the naming and number of pricing levels you've chosen previously (configure global settings).
Recurring	Check to offer date-based booking. If unchecked, only one-off events can be created and all options listed below are not available. See Booking Types.
Contiguous	If Recurring is set, check Contiguous to offer bookings spanning multiple hours or days. See Booking Types.
Granularity	If Recurring is set, choose whether the resource can be booked hourly or daily. See Booking Types.
Duration method	If Recurring and Contiguous are set, select 'To Date' or Period to offer a booking form with either an End date/time (via optional calendar) or a Duration input box for number of hours to be booked, respectively. See Booking Types.
Frequency	If Recurring is set, select from the drop-down menu if the resource can be booked Daily, Monthly, or Weekly. For a Weekly or Monthly setting you'll be prompted for a day(s) of the week or date in the month to select, respectively.

Click Create. The resource is added to the Resource pane.

Booking types

Type	Example	What to set..
one-off event	concerts	Keep Recurring unchecked. Note: It's recommended to create a separate Resource Booker Smart object for one-off events. By doing so you can add event details (date and time) to the Description field in global settings.
hour only (as and when)	sports facilities (tennis courts, snooker, pool)	Check Recurring and set Granularity to 'Hourly.' The visitor will be offered a Start calendar from which the hour booking can be booked.
hour only (regular)	evening classes	Check Recurring and set Granularity to 'Hourly.' Set the Frequency to Weekly or Monthly, and set days appropriately.
multi-hour	evening charity dinner (private booking)	Check Recurring, Contiguous, and set Granularity to 'Hourly.' The visitor will be offered a Start calendar and a Duration box for the number of concurrent hours to be booked.
daily	B&B room	Check Recurring, Contiguous, and set Granularity to 'Daily.' Also set Duration method to 'To' Date. The visitor will be offered Start and End monthly calendars to book from.

Using our Well Being tennis centre as an example, the hour-only booking type would be ideal for setting up a tennis court resource (e.g., called Indoor1).

The Resource pane shows each created resource as it is created. You'll be able to edit and manage each resource from this pane in the future.

To edit a resource:

Select the resource and click Edit at the bottom of the dialog.
In the dialog, change settings then click Update.

Add your Resource Booking System to a web page

In WebPlus, select the site page on which you want to insert your resource.
Log into Serif Web Resources, select your resource from the Smart Objects Library.
Click Insert.
To insert the resource at default size, position the cursor where you want the object to appear on the page, then click the mouse.

- or -

Click and drag on your page to set the size of the Resource Booker Smart object.
Preview your site in a web browser, then publish to your web space.

The user's experience

The following procedures are intended to help the administrator understand the user's booking experience. Again, tennis court booking is used as an example.

To book a resource:

Click Book.
From the Check Availability page enter your preferred date and time.
Enter the number of people booking in the relevant pricing category.

Click Check.
From the next dialog, enter your contact details (name, and optionally email, phone number, or additional information).
Click Book.
From the next dialog, confirmation of booking is made. You'll be given a unique booking ID which should be used as proof of booking.
For further bookings, click Bookings Home to return to the main booking page.

Manage your resources

Management of each resource (e.g., a tennis court) may, for the most part, just involve monitoring a bookings calendar for the resource with no further action taken.

Bookings details for the day will be revealed by clicking on the specific calendar date. Details are shown in the adjacent pane.

However, management may also involve:

Cancellation of a selected booking.
Cancellation of all bookings.
Closing a resource for a period of time, e.g., for maintenance reasons. This prevents future bookings of the resource during a time period.
Authorizing a booking (if bookings require confirmation by the administrator).

To cancel a specific or all current bookings:

Select the resource, then click the Manage button.
Select a specific booking's date in the calendar then click Delete under the displayed booking item. To delete all bookings, click Clear All Bookings.

To close a resource for a set time period:

Select the resource, then click the Manage button.
Click Add Closed Period, then choose a From and To time period for resource closure.
Click Mark Resource Closed.

At any time, you can re-open a closed resource by clicking Re-open Resource (select a closed date first).

If you've chosen to authorize all bookings, your calendar will show bookings requiring authorization in red.

To authorize a booking:

Select the resource, then click the Manage button.
Select the calendar date (in red) and click either Confirm or Reject to process the booking. The person booking will be notified by email of the decision.